During December 2024, the Department of Employment and Labour (DoEL) sent invitations to various stakeholders within 18 sectors, inviting them to attend virtual consultation meetings on numerical sector targets.

These invitations were purportedly sent in terms of section 15A(2) of the amended Employment Equity Act, 1998 (EEA). Section 15A(2) read together with section 15A(4) of the EEA contemplates that prior to the publication of draft sector targets in the Government Gazette for public comment, the Minister must consult the relevant sectors.

The invitation indicated that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the proposed sector numerical targets for the relevant sector before publishing the final sector targets for implementation. It was not initially clear to stakeholders whether the DoEL would be engaging the sectors on the previous draft targets published in 2023 and 2024 (Draft Sector Targets), or whether new targets would be presented.

Virtual meetings with the DoEL commenced this week and are expected to continue until 17 February 2025. In these meetings, the DoEL has presented new draft sector targets to stakeholders.

As with the 2024 Draft Sector Targets, the new draft targets are set for “designated groups”, broken down by gender, but there are no specific targets per racial group.

The figures are, however, markedly different from the 2023 and 2024 Draft Sector Targets, and in many instances are significantly increased.

The DoEL explained during the virtual meetings that the rationale for the change in draft targets was due to various sectors comparing well and exceeding the 2024 Draft Sector Targets in the last reporting period.

It appears that the DoEL is setting new draft sector targets based on the latest workforce profile statistics of various sectors, as reflected in the 2024 EEA reports, and adjusting these figures upward by up to 8% in certain sectors. When considered over the five-year period, the result, depending on the sector and occupational level, is an increased representativity of designated groups per level of between 1% and 1.6% year-on-year.

Further, the DoEL has proposed to decrease the workforce profile of certain designated groups (such as women) if the workforce profile as it currently stands is in excess of the economically active population (EAP) for such sector.

Additionally, disability targets have been raised to 3%, with this increase expected to apply across all sectors. These new draft targets do not appear on the DoEL website nor have they been published in the Government Gazette for public comment.

During the meeting, the DoEL shared the following proposed timeline:

• 28 February 2025: Sector stakeholder ’consultations’ on the final sector targets will be conducted and finalised.
• 31 March 2025: Two sets of regulations, which will include the General Administrative Regulations (dealing with the various employment equity reporting forms, employment equity plan templates, enforcement tools, and certificate of compliance template) and the regulations on the five-year sector targets, will be published.
• April 2025: Internal training and capacity building of employment equity labour inspectors will take place on the EEA amendments and regulations, including the online system.
• May – June 2025: National employment equity workshops and roadshows with stakeholders will be conducted to raise awareness and to train stakeholders on the implementation of the EEA amendments, how to utilise the online system to capture employment equity reports and the process to request a certificate of compliance.
• April – August 2025: Designated employers should embark on the process of conducting their workplace analyses and developing new employment equity plans to align with the published five-year sector targets.
• 1 September 2025: The employment equity reporting system will be opened until 15 January 2026, during which designated employers will submit their ‘base’ employment equity reports (EEA2 and EEA4 forms) and employers may be issued with their first certificates of compliance for purposes of section 53 of the EEA.
• 1 September 2026 to 15 January 2027: The first assessment of annual sector targets towards the achievement of the five-year sector targets will be considered against the 2026 employment equity reporting period.

It is not clear whether the regulations that are proposed to be published at the end of March 2025 will be in draft form inviting the public to comment. During the virtual consultations and when asked whether the draft targets would be published for comment, as contemplated in section 15A(2) and (4) of the EEA, the DoEL indicated that it ’would comply with its interpretation of the law.’  If the DoEL complies with the multi-stage process contemplated in section 15A of the EEA, what ought to take place following the ’consultation’ process is the publication of draft sectoral targets in the Government Gazette, allowing for public comment for a period of at least 30 days.

The DoEL also indicated during the virtual sessions that designated employers would be expected to prepare new employment equity plans effective from 1 September 2025, so that the annual targets set by designated employers align across the sector for purposes of considering compliance.

The sequence of events contemplated in section 15A of the EEA is as follows:

• Identification of the proposed national economic sectors, and publication in the Government Gazette for public comment, allowing interested parties at least 30 days to comment;
• Consultation with the relevant sectors;
• Publication of draft targets in the Government Gazette for public comment, allowing interested parties at least 30 days to comment; and
• After taking the advice of the Commission for Employment Equity, publication of the final sector targets.

Now that the amendments have come into effect and the Minister of Employment and Labour is empowered to act in terms of section 15A, the DoEL should arguably first identify the proposed national economic sectors for public comment.

This is particularly relevant given that certain sectors have been combined, despite significant differences in workforce profiles. Moreover, setting targets for the top four occupational levels based on a single identified sector will fail to capture the distinct nuances and complexities of each individual sector within the broader classification. During stakeholder engagement sessions, the DoEL indicated that the 18 sectors identified had already been agreed at NEDLAC.

If stakeholders engage with the DoEL during these virtual ’consultations’, such engagement should be with a full reservation of a stakeholder’s rights to make written submissions. The DoEL has indicated during the virtual meetings that stakeholders will be provided with an opportunity to make written representations but has only provided up to five working days in some sectors to submit such representations, and in other sectors has provided up to nine working days. The deadline provided by the DoEL for sectors to submit written representations is Friday, 21 February 2025.

Representations ought to include a request to the DoEL to provide stakeholders with a reasonable opportunity to consider and respond to the new draft targets, particularly given that in many cases, the proposed targets were not shared before the meetings. Stakeholders should further ask that the engagements take place within the multi-stage process contemplated in section 15A of the EEA. It goes without saying that meaningful consultation only takes place when representations are genuinely and seriously considered and feedback regarding those representations is provided.

Written by Melissa Cogger, Partner at Bowmans Law